SOTD by u/ginopono

2023-07-28 Arko Day

• Brush: Assured Men - Broosse Rasage [sic] #RUNT #HOLLOW
• Razor: Alshabab Original
• Lather: Arko - Arko
• Post Shave: Lucky Tiger - Aspen
• Fragrance: Old Spice - Swagger Body Spray

Frugal Friday: Shit's cheap, yo. I'm not pulling any of this "look at the price for a gross pack!" foolery, either (a gross is 144, for anyone unaware). No, these are just the regular, normal-quantity, non-deal prices for the stuff.

I actually didn't come into wetshaving with the idea of "I'll save so much money!" I had the goal of getting a better shave, which is important to me because trichotillomania, but I'll spare you from another tangent about that.

Relevant Post-Shave and Fragrance: As required by the challenge.

Challenge Accepted:

#FOF

Alshabab Razor and blade: $0.15 total
I got a couple of these, because it's not like it's gonna break the bank, and this cheap little razor is surprisingly decent—when it has a decent blade. This morning, after I opened the fresh package of the other razor, I learned that the first blade was not just a dud. This blade would be happier yanking hair out of my face than cutting them. It outright refused the denser hair on my upper lip and soul patch.

Assured Men "Broosse": $1.25
Why the hell did I see u/OnionMiasma's post? I visited a few Dollar Tree stores just to see if they had this piece of crap. When I did find it, I was... not thrilled. Yes, the "knot" popped out immediately. If I were more sane, I would have tossed it and used the $4 one I had found, instead. Nope, I expoxied that thing back together, like a dumbass. During the process, my finger got stabbed by something in the conical lump of glue holding the bristles-of-questionable-material together.

Arko: $2.99/75g ($.0399/g)
I got and tried Arko for the first time just before the Games. It was a mystery how rubbing the stick on your face and then lathering would even work, and I'm still not really sure. Especially with this terrible, horrible, egregious excuse for a brush. Holy shit. But I managed a pathetic lather. Another curiosity was the reported "urinal cake" smell. Yes. Urinal cake is correct.
And it's drying! Holy hell, my skin has never felt so dry, and I live next to the sun!

Lucky Tiger: $10.00/16oz ($.0338/mL)
To reiterate, this is the non-exceptional price. Sample prices are obviously inflated. I originally included this in an order as a candidate for one of my barbershop days, but I had that covered and then I realized the stuff is normally sold in a huge bottle at a low price.
Descriptions call it "cool," "classic and clean," and "barbershop classic." I get what I think is citrus off the top, but not much else. I might have expected a bit of floral, but I noticed none. There may have been some spiciness well-hidden under the citrus. Also, is that... iron? It is! Blood.

Old Spice Swagger: $16.00/106g ($.151/g)
"Hey now, ginopono, that's deodorant; it's gotta be specifically marketed as a fragrance!"
I had that concern, too, but nope! This isn't marketed as a deodorant or spray deodorant. The deodorant products are expressly different things. The price of the particular version that I have (notably not labeled as an "underarm spray") may be inflated as a result of it being older, unobtanium-esque, and even so it's by far the cheapest expressly-marketed-as-a-fragrance product in my possession.
The scent, which reviews say have changed since this bottle/can was made, is quite citrusy, I think. Which is surprising, because I quite like it, whereas I've convinced myself I don't like citrus. Is it also spicy? I'm honestly not sure. Sorry, ~~r/cowzilla3~~ u/AirBudRuler, I'm not familiar at all with Old Spice, so I don't know how this compares.

#photocontest
Photo: r/wicked_edge
I don't get the utter disdain that people express for that sub. It's a different place, sure, but I guess if you need to onanistically massage your sense of superiority, that's one way to do it.
"Set up a photo like [I] would in WE"? Okay, well that counts for every photo I set up for WS. I could literally put this on any photo, and it should count (hell, people here still put the same photos on both subs).
But I'll play along.
I'll approach this with the idea that I'm recreating the photos that I shared with WS when I first tried coming here. It was the Games two years ago, and the environment was what I can only describe as "aggressively exclusionary". That said, I'd like to point out that the following year's Games were much better; the good folks running the Games acknowledged this, and made a conscious and noticeable effort to make the Games more accessible. But hot damn, the Games of two years ago were hostile for a newcomer.
But I digress.
It seems appropriate for the cheapo stuff to be laid out on the side of my sink with harsh lighting, much like in those early photos of mine. But that itself doesn't put r/wicked_edge actually in the photo, as the contest wants. To acheive that, there's the sub itself pulled up in the back. This isn't the phone category today.

[**2023-07-28 Arko Day**](https://i.imgur.com/Lx4LBRI.jpg)

* **Brush:** Assured Men - Broosse Rasage [sic] #RUNT #HOLLOW
* **Razor:** Alshabab Original
* **Lather:** Arko - Arko
* **Post Shave:** Lucky Tiger - Aspen
* **Fragrance:** Old Spice - Swagger Body Spray

**Frugal Friday:** Shit's cheap, yo. I'm not pulling any of this "look at the
price for a gross pack!" foolery, either (a gross is 144, for anyone unaware).
No, these are just the regular, normal-quantity, non-deal prices for the stuff.

I actually didn't come into wetshaving with the idea of
"I'll save so much money!"
I had the goal of getting a better shave, which is important to me because
[trichotillomania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania), but I'll
spare you from another tangent about that.

**Relevant Post-Shave and Fragrance:** As required by the challenge.

**Challenge Accepted:**

#FOF

*Alshabab Razor and blade*:
[*$0.15 total*](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804392424725.html)
I got a couple of [these](https://i.imgur.com/qXXYbWm.jpg),
because it's not like it's gonna break the bank, and
this cheap little razor is surprisingly decent—when it has a decent blade.
This morning, after I opened the fresh package of the other razor, I learned
that the first blade was not just a dud. This blade would be happier yanking
hair out of my face than cutting them. It outright refused the denser hair on
my upper lip and soul patch.

*Assured Men "Broosse": $1.25*
Why the hell did I see u/OnionMiasma's post? I visited a few Dollar Tree stores
just to see if they had this piece of crap. When
[I did find it,](https://i.imgur.com/rIbZJfj.jpg) I was... not thrilled.
Yes, the "knot" [popped out immediately](https://i.imgur.com/in8QMZ7.jpg).
If I were more sane, I would have tossed it and used the $4 one I had found,
instead. Nope, I
[expoxied that thing back together,](https://i.imgur.com/VC38joH.jpg) like a
dumbass. During the process, my finger got stabbed by *something* in the
conical lump of glue holding the bristles-of-questionable-material together.

*Arko: [$2.99/75g](https://maggardrazors.com/products/arko-stick-1) ($.0399/g)*
I got and tried Arko for the first time just before the Games. It was a mystery
how rubbing the stick on your face and then lathering would even work, and I'm
still not really sure. Especially with this terrible, horrible, egregious
excuse for a brush. Holy shit. But I managed a
[pathetic lather](https://i.imgur.com/rIxjlfb.jpg).
Another curiosity was the reported "urinal cake" smell. Yes.
Urinal cake is correct.
And it's drying! Holy hell, my skin has never felt so dry,
and I live next to the sun!

*Lucky Tiger:
[$10.00/16oz](https://www.pasteurshaving.com/products/lucky-tiger-barber-shop-after-shave-aspen-aspen-16-oz)
($.0338/mL)*
To reiterate, this is the non-exceptional price.
Sample prices are obviously inflated. I originally included this in an order as
a candidate for one of my barbershop days, but I had that covered and then I
realized the stuff is normally sold in a huge bottle at a low price.
Descriptions call it "cool," "classic and clean," and "barbershop classic."
I get what I think is citrus off the top, but not much else. I might have
expected a bit of floral, but I noticed none. There may have been some
spiciness well-hidden under the citrus. Also, is that... iron? It is! Blood.

*Old Spice Swagger: [$16.00/106g](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Old-Spice-Red-Zone-Swagger-Men-s-Body-Spray-3-75-Ounce/1293332650)
($.151/g)*
"Hey now, ginopono, that's deodorant; it's gotta be specifically marketed as
a fragrance!"
I had that concern, too, but nope! This isn't marketed as a deodorant or
spray deodorant. The deodorant products are
[expressly different things](https://i.imgur.com/JYU1EVA.jpg).
The price of the particular version that I have (notably *not* labeled as
an "underarm spray") may be inflated as a result of it being older,
unobtanium-esque, and even so it's by far the cheapest
expressly-marketed-as-a-fragrance product in my possession.
The scent, which reviews say have changed since this bottle/can was made,
is quite citrusy, I think. Which is surprising, because I quite like
it, whereas I've convinced myself I don't like citrus. Is it also spicy?
I'm honestly not sure. Sorry, ~~r/cowzilla3~~ u/AirBudRuler, I'm not familiar
at all with Old Spice, so I don't know how this compares.

#photocontest
**Photo:** r/wicked_edge
I don't get the utter disdain that people express for that sub. It's a different
place, sure, but I guess if you need to onanistically massage your sense of
superiority, that's one way to do it.
"Set up a photo like [I] would in WE"? Okay, well that counts for every photo
I set up for WS. I could literally put this on any photo, and it should count
(hell, people here still put the same photos on both subs).
But I'll play along.
I'll approach this with the idea that I'm recreating the photos that I shared
with WS when I first tried coming here. It was the Games two years ago, and
the environment was what I can only describe as "aggressively exclusionary".
That said, I'd like to point out that the following year's Games were much
better; the good folks running the Games acknowledged this, and made a
conscious and noticeable effort to make the Games more accessible. But hot
damn, the Games of two years ago were *hostile* for a newcomer.
But I digress.
It seems appropriate for the cheapo stuff to be laid out on the side of my
sink with harsh lighting, much like in those early photos of mine. But that
itself doesn't put r/wicked_edge actually in the photo, as the contest wants.
To acheive that, there's the sub itself pulled up in the
back. This isn't the phone category today.